Macro & Nikon Pb-6 Bellows

[fberg]

Hi,
Anybody that has used the Nikon PD-6 bellows with the S2?
Anybody that knows which lens to use with the slide/copier accessory ?

Thanks

[Wichita Wayne]

And the S2 will not go one the PB-4 unless you put it in the verticle position. To solve this problem I use an M2 extension tube. However it doesn't cover the whole slide with a Nikkor 50mm enlarging lens with a custom made thread mount. The meter also does not work so the copy is not as easy. I will stick to an old Nikon in stop down meter mode to copy slide to slide. I have also compared the S2 as a slide copier to my Photo Smart S20 scanner and the S20 is easier and seems to produce better results.

[fberg]

Thanks, Wayne.

[Tom V]

I too have a Nikon PB-6 bellows and the Nikon PS-6 slide copier attachment. I recently bought it on e-Bay for about $125. I bought it because it seemed like it might come in handy some day. Years ago, I had a complete bellows system that I used A LOT with my Minolta 35mm film cameras.

You have to mount the camera to the PB-6 bellows in a vertical position, then rotate the bellow's mounting flange to horizontal. Other bellows models may require an extension tube to get enough clearance between the bellows and the various camera bulges.

I put a 50mm ƒ1.8 lens on and was able to see the central part of the slide frame when the bellows were compressed all the way, and the PS-6 slide holder was near the end of the PB-6. I could not see the whole frame because the digital camera sensor (and the camera's viewfinder) are smaller than what is in a 35mm film camera.

With a 24mm lens, minimal bellows extension, the focus point is nearly touching the front element of the lens. Extending the bellows makes the magnification increase and the focusing distance closer (touching or inside the front lens element).

With a 105 Micro, and minimal bellows draw, I could never get the slide in focus. I took the PS-6 off, and found the focus point about a foot away.

With the above lenses, the 52mm filter flange fits into the PS-6 bellows ring to prevent flare. With the lens below, the PS-6 will not fit on the len's 62mm filter flange.

I put on a Nikkor 35-70 ƒ2.8 zoom, and found that at 70mm with the bellows fully compressed, I could get the whole slide frame in the viewfinder at about the point that the PS-6 falls off the end of the PB-6 geared track. If I zoomed to about 60mm, (this lens gets physically longer when zoomed wider), I could keep the PS-6 attached, but the slide frame is cropped.

In short, I did not find what works, but I did find several that didn't work. If you want to crop into your slides a bit, a regular 50mm lens can work. For the sharpest results, Nikon recommends using a reversing ring when using standard (non macro/micro) normal and wide lenses. The reversing ring turns the lens around so the back of the lens is toward the slide.

To get life size reproduction with a 50mm lens, you need 50mm of extension between the back of the lens and the camera. With a 100mm lens, you would need 100mm of extension to get 1:1 magnification. The PB-6 minimal bellows extension is about 50mm, so if you use a shorter focal lenght lens, you would get more than 1:1 reproduction, so really don't think a lens wider than 50mm is going to work.

The thing that messes things up is the size of the sensor being smaller than normal 35mm film format.

I would like to try a 60mm Micro lens and see what happens.

None of the metering functions work on with the S2 / bellows combination. You have to shoot by trial and error, and judge exposure with the LCD histogram - which is not a bad thing.

[fberg]

Thanks Tom for your jewels suggestions.
I would be you very thankful if you tried the micro 60mm.
I explain you why:
I am waiting for the micro Nikkor 60mm, won on ebay. The QXL auction for a PB-6 & PS-6 expires in +/- three days.
I would not like to make the bid and then the micro doesn't work or viceversa, to lose the auction
when instead it would work.

Best regards.

[Tom V]

Originally posted by fberg
...
I would be you very thankful if you tried the micro 60mm.
...

I don't have a 60mm Micro lens. You can send my yours:D

The 60mm should be a great lens for the S2 regardless. Its focal length X 1.5 (sensor size factor) makes it equivalent to a 90mm lens - perfect for portraits, products, etc. It has a nice perspective and nobody can ever say it is not sharp.

When I was searching for a Nikon Bellows PB-6 & PS-6 to buy on eBay, I found about 2 or 3 sets per week. They are there all the time. Be careful you don't bid too much when there is virtually the same unit for sale in another auction a few hours behind it. Right now there are 4 sets going on eBay.

[Wichita Wayne]

In my book it is the first lens a person should buy if you are goint to shoot Nikon cameras. In fact it was the first AF lens that I did buy for my F-100. The F-100 replaced an old F-2 and its 55mm Micro that was stolen in Chicago a few years back. It gets used a lot on the S2 but I normally keep the 28 to 200 Zoom on the S2 because I kind-of-like-it and it takes good pictures. But I would never give up my 60mm Micro. Works great with the bellows and an extension tube also. I also use a 50mm and a 135mm enlarging lenses on the bellows and they work great also. Both are Nikkor. The 135mm is one fine piece of glass.

[fberg]

Returning to the slide copy discussion, I have had an idea,
but I don't know if it is realizable.
I don't know if a ring adapter like this, exists: 62mm thread step down --> female/bayonet (like the body/bayonet).
If it exists, the order of the things would be this:

BODY --> LENS MICRO 60mm --> RING/ADAPTER --> BELLOWS --> PS6 SLIDE.
The nikkor 60 micro minimum focus is about 22 cm.... The game is made!

Can someone say where I am wrong?

[Tom V]

I have never heard of a 62mm filter size -to- female F-mount (bayonet).

You can skip the bellows. All the bellows do is provide a light-tight tunnel between the various camera, lens, and subject parts.

To simply copy slides, you could just use your 60mm Micro lens (or any macro lens) mounted on your camera. Illuminate your slide from behind, insuring that no light reaches the lens except light going thru the slide. Eliminate all other ambient light, mask off your slide with a sheet of black cardboard for example. To further block stray light, you could construct a black paper tube that encloses the end of the lens.

I have used light boxes (the kind for sorting slides) with 5000K lights, and I have used a dichroic color enlarger head (from a darkroom enlarger*) for light sources. I have also used TTL flashes on remote cords (like Nikon SC-17).

The Nikkor 60mm Micro, 100mm Micro, and 200mm Micro all focus to 1:1 (life size) without adapters. The Nikkor 70-180 Micro gets to 1:1.33 on its own, but requires a #6T close up lens to get 1:1 magnification.

1:1 means the image on the film plane is the same size as the subject.

So what is so hard about shooting slides on a digital camera? Why not just set the lens to 1:1 magnification and duplicate the slide? Well, the slide is bigger than the digital camera sensor. To fill the sensor with the image of the slide, you need to be at 1:1.5 (the same factor that makes your lens "more telephoto" than on a film camera). If you shoot the slides at 1:1, you will have shot only a portion of the slide -exactly the same size as your sensor. You have to "back up" and shoot the slide at less than life-size: 1:1.5

The longer the focal length of the lens, the further away you will be. When shooting 1:1.5 with a 60mm lens, you will be closer to the slide (subject) than you will with a 200mm lens set to the same magnification.

How can you be sure that your slide is exactly parallel to the sensor (film plane)? Simple, place a small mirror exactly where your slide will be, mark a dot in the center exactly where the center of the slide will be. Look through the viewfinder and move the camera up, down, etc. until you get the reflection of your lens centered on the dot on the mirror centered in the viewfinder(you can change focus while doing the alignment). When the 3 centers (mirror dot, viewfinder, center of lens) are aligned, everyghing is parallel.

So why ever bother with bellows? It makes it easier to keep everything aligned when you move in or out, or crop, and it keeps ambient & reflected light out.

[fberg]

Thanks Tom,
I will follow surely your suggestion.
Bye

[Tom V]

Upon further review, it now seems clear to me that in order to dupe slides with the S2 digital camera (or any other camera with a 1.5X lens equivalent factor) on the Nikon PB-6 bellows, you need to use a lens no shorter than 75mm. Anything shorter won't allow 1:1.5 magnification because of the bellow's minimum extension of 50mm. Using a 75mm or longer lens puts the minimal focus point at the end of your bellows rail (if you are lucky, depending on your the brand, size, mechanism of your lens), or more likely, past the end. You would need to extend the rail with a Nikon PB-6E in order to move the PS-6 far enough away to focus.

I think good lenses to try would be the 85mm Nikkor (with reversing ring?), or maybe the Sigma 90mm macro. With my 105mm Micro Nikkor, the lens focuses a few inches past the end of the PB-6 rail.

All the above brain-farts by myself are my best advice. Free advice is worth what you pay for it, so before you go spending a lot of money on something, you may want to make sure you know exactly what you are doing, or at least know the risk of not knowing what you are doing.

[fberg]

Tom,
I probably seem fixed with the duplication of the slides..
The fact is that I have gotten exceptional results copying the slides with the Nikon 995 and his slide/copier.
Unfortunately I have been so imprudent to be sold too soon, the 995, to have immediately the S2!

So now I have to still capture around 1000 slides......

For now, I waiting for my 60mm micro and close hire.
If I will resolve my problem, I will do to know.

Thank you very much, for your kind help.